For today’s post I’m going to employ the use of the popular How We Got Here TV trope. It is the running theme of shows such as How I Met Your Mother, where the preamble is actually the middle or end of the story and what follows is a chronicle of the preceding events. For the classics lovers amongst us, let’s call it In medias res as demonstrated in Homer’s Iliad.

On 27th December 2021 (in-game date) I was relieved of my duties by the board of Sporting Club Bastiais. Here’s how that happened…

In my intro post, I’d already outlined some issues with the squad. Namely that they were the oldest average age in the league and that there was little to no money to make any major changes. I was afforded room in the budget to make just one signing and it was that of Brazillian striker Kléber.

Admittedly making the move for a 38 year old striker probably doesn’t seem like the most logical decision after complaining about how old my squad was, however, it was a sticking plaster as a short term fix.

THE TACTICAL TAKE

We’ve been through this many times. I don’t talk up my ability to translate tactical theory well into FM. It’s a big area of struggle for me but usually I find something that clicks. Throughout my short tenure on Corsica I had adopted three main tactical set ups as below:

4-4-2 was my primary tactic, focused on getting the ball down the right wing and crossing in for one of the forwards or arriving midfielders to score - or at least that was the idea. 4-1-4-1 was something that never really got off the ground - why? I’m not really sure. 4-3-3 was my go to tactic for a panicky last 20 minutes when I needed a goal. For every match it worked there were two or three that it backfired and the gaps on the flanks allowed us to be carved open with ease.

As I’ve alluded to, this was an ageing squad - and an ageing squad is, generally, not a very fit squad. We ranked bottom of the league in terms of physical attributes. It didn’t suit the way I generally like to play the game which is very much quick paced transitions into attack. I also like to have tall centre backs (6’2” at minimum) and tall strikers - Bastia had neither of these.

SO IT WAS THE PLAYERS?

Yes and No. Truthfully, this Bastia side was filled with players that just simply weren’t anywhere near a Ligue 2 level. Physically, mentally and technically they lagged way behind the rest of the league. Sure, someone who is very good at FM could probably make it work but honestly that isn’t me. This was too much of a challenge for me.

IT ALL STARTED SO WELL

Pre-season isn’t about the results, it’s about minutes on legs and tactical preparation - this is what any half-decent football manager will tell you. I lost sight of that as we embarked on a pre-season tour (to mainland France) and came away with a number of impressive results. Not least, the draws with Auxerre, Sion and Fenerbahçe who are teams well beyond Bastia’s current position.

The Ligue 2 campaign even began quite promisingly. A hard fought scoreless draw at home to Nîmes (who at my time of writing are top of the league in-save, unbeaten in their 19 games) before a poor performance against Quevilly-Rouen. What followed was a classic against Nancy, coming back from 2-0 down at half time to seal our first win of the season. 4 points from a possible 9 - not a bad start.

What followed was painful. A run of seven games before our next win before another five unsuccessful league games leaving us just a point off the relegation spots. A 1-0 defeat to Championnat National 2 Blois Foot 41 was down to a 90+2 minute winner (loser for me) and the fans had officially turned against me.

Things were bad. Maybe I was foolish but I still felt that the tide could be turned here. In the month of December we had three league fixtures: Paris FC (18th), Sochaux (12th) and Rodez AD (19th). The board called a meeting and I promised that things would be better in a month’s time. How could they not be?

How wrong was I?! Paris outclassed us, Idriss Saadi’s finish really making the scoreline flatter us more than it should. We didn’t create a single shot on target against Sochaux. Kylian Kaïboue’s late winner against Rodez gave me the slightest glimpse of hope. Maybe I’d be given a chance in January to ship players out and bring in my own identity.

As we now know, the board were not keen. With Bastia sitting perilously in 19th place they moved to sack me. Am I bitter? Slightly. We were expected simply to avoid relegation and that wasn’t beyond the realms of possibilities at this point. Though I do understand why this happens in football. Maybe a new manager boost can push them on to where they need to be.

WHAT’S NEXT?

It’s a difficult question to answer. My whole way of playing these days is geared around picking a team and building them into MY team. I can’t just jump ship to a new team in this save. In short, this save is now dead. It’s back to the drawing board to decide on what I do next.

Unfinished business at Bastia? It remains unfinished. Don’t rule out my return there at some point in the future.